KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — A teacher suffered a "very minor" wound and a 14-year-old male student is in custody after a gun unintentionally went off inside a backpack at West High School on Friday, according to the Knoxville Police Department.
Police said a bullet or bullet fragment grazed a teacher on Friday, April 28.
Here's the timeline of what we know so far:
9:20 a.m. - Initial Report
Knox County Schools Chief of Security Jason Periard said the district received an alert about an incident at West High School around 9:20 a.m. on Friday.
KPD said that the student was going through his backpack when the gun discharged. There was no struggle or argument before the gun went off, according to KPD.
An SRO was notified of the incident at approximately 9:30 a.m. The student was taken into custody "just minutes after" by the SRO and School Security Officer, KPD said.
RELATED: KPD: Teacher grazed by bullet fired in West High School classroom, 14-year-old student charged
It is unclear when the gun was discharged.
The teacher reported that he heard a loud pop like a gun or fireworks. It was not initially clear a gun caused the loud pop, KPD spokesperson Scott Erland said.
"That proved to be the case upon further investigation," Erland wrote in an email to 10News. "The teacher reported that he heard a loud pop like a gun or fireworks."
In addition to the teacher, approximately 20 to 22 students were in the classroom. None of them were hurt, Erland said.
KPD said where the 14-year-old got the gun from is still under active investigation. He is charged with reckless endangerment, reckless aggravated assault and possession of a weapon on school grounds. Under state law, KPD and Knox County Schools are not releasing the student's identity.
10:22 a.m. - First letter sent to parents
West High School Principal Ashley Speas sent a message at 10:22 a.m. to parents after the gun discharged.
The message did not mention a gun or gunshots. Instead, Speas described an "incident" involving an "extremely loud noise."
"Law enforcement and School Security have investigated and determined there to be no threat. Please know that all students are safe and instruction is continuing as normal. Thank you for your support and patience as we work together to ensure the safety of our students and staff. If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to the school," the message said.
11:39 a.m. - Second message sent to parents; school placed on medium lockdown
In a second message from Speas to parents, the principal announced students would be dismissed early.
"As law enforcement continues to investigate the incident that occurred this morning, we have been made aware of additional information. As a precaution, we have made the decision to dismiss West High School early this afternoon at 12:30 p.m.," the letter said. "In an effort to ensure a smooth dismissal process, the school has been placed on medium lockdown."
Knox County Schools Superintendent Jon Rysewyk said he met with West High staff after the gun discharged to make sure they were safe, saying the school went into a "medium" lockdown before dismissing early. He said the lockdown was largely to clear the halls and make sure everyone in the school was accounted for and ok before dismissing classes.
Sierra McCormick said she's upset about the lack of transparency for parents at West High School. McCormick has two sophomores at West.
"There was no information given about a teacher being grazed by a student having a gun in their backpack," McCormick said. "We got none of that information."
McCormick said she didn't learn of the incident involving the gun until she checked Facebook and saw a post from the Knoxville Police Department.
"I expect clear communication from my child's school," McCormick said. "I deserve to know if they were safe. I deserve to know if at any time during that day, they were unsafe."
KCS said in a statement Monday that the initial message sent to families was based on the information it had at the time.
"As we continued to work with the Knoxville Police Department and became aware of additional information, we communicated a dismissal plan with parents. Because this situation became a criminal matter, we were not at liberty to share details of the incident until law enforcement was ready to release details. The district did acknowledge a gun was discharged in a message from the Superintendent to West High families Friday evening," a KCS spokesperson said.
The first mention of a gun discharge in school came at 5:05 p.m. on Friday in a message from the superintendent.
"Please know that we are committed to sharing as much information with you as we are permitted," Rysewyk wrote. "Because there is an active criminal investigation, we are not at liberty to provide you with the level of details that KPD can share."